Untitled [reclining nude turned and resting on her elbows] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this charcoal drawing of a reclining nude, sometime in the mid-twentieth century, approaching the figure as a kind of landscape, or maybe the other way around. I think of the way the marks build up as a kind of search, an attempt to discover the form through a process of layering and erasure. There is something so incredibly present about this drawing, you can almost feel the artist circling around the subject. The charcoal is applied with varying degrees of pressure, from light, feathery strokes to bold, assertive lines. See how the artist uses smudging and blending to create a sense of depth and volume, especially in the torso. In contrast, the crisp, dark lines defining the figure’s back seem to pull the form forward. And what about that dark mass of hair! It's such a strong contrast to the delicate rendering of the body. It's interesting to compare this to Matisse's drawings, which also have a very sensual and immediate quality. I'm drawn to artworks that remind us that art is always about looking, and feeling, and trying to find form.